The Demons We Harbor
by evgrrl09
Summary: Derek comforts Penelope after she does something that scares her; the team deals with the aftermath of the case in Texas. Final post-episode oneshot in my series of Season 9 Morcia stories. Major spoilers for "Demons." Mostly Morcia goodness, but other team members are in here, too.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**So since the 9th season has concluded, this will be the last in the post-episode Morcia series I've been doing these past few months. This is a missing moment from the hospital, and the aftermath of the case. Hope you like it!**

The man who attempted to kill Reid was taken away after being handcuffed and put on a stretcher to go to surgery. Nervously, Derek looked from the doorway to where Reid was still embracing a very frazzled Penelope. Reid's gun was placed on the tray table and Penelope's shoulders were shaking visibly; Morgan could tell that, even from across the room. He breathed in a sigh of deep relief that they were okay, though. As the stretcher disappeared, he looked back towards Penelope and Reid.

Guilt ripped through him. He should have been here sooner. Penelope never should have had to fire that gun. Just looking at her he could tell she was scared to death about what she'd had to do.

"You gonna be okay, Garcia?" Reid asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

Wordlessly, Penelope nodded. "Yeah," she managed. "I'll - I'll be fine." But even as she spoke, her eyes welled up with more tears. Giving Reid an unsteady half-smile, she ruffled his hair with a gentle toss of her hand. "I'm - I'm going to be right back. I need to…I'll just be right back." Without another sound, she strode from the room, ignoring Derek's attempt at placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She vanished moments later into the unisex restroom a short ways down the hall.

Derek watched her go, pained. How could he not have protected her from this?

Reid read his mind apparently. "You should go after her, Morgan," he urged.

Looking back at his injured friend, Derek rubbed his face. "Not now, man," he said. "We can't leave you alone for someone to come back and try and finish the job on you."

"I don't see them having a way of knowing they failed yet," Reid argued. He waved his hand flippantly in the air. "Go see her. She is your girlfriend. It's your boy-friendly duty to take care of her, so get to it."

Torn, Derek nodded after realizing Reid was right. "I'll be back, kid," he said. "Really soon."

Swiftly, he began striding towards the bathroom Penelope was still in. It wasn't locked, much to his surprise, and he opened the door, slipping into the small room. In the corner of the room, Penelope was slumped against the wall, staring blankly at the wall. Her eyes were dry, but her tears were staining her cheeks, drying as the time ticked by like dragging feet.

"Penelope?" He strode towards her and knelt down at her side. She didn't look up. Sighing, he used his thumb to wipe her tear-stained cheeks. His guilt welled up again and he stroked her hair back behind her ear. "I'm sorry, Baby. I should have gotten here before this happened."

She blinked multiple times, fast and choppy. "I shot someone," she croaked. "I shot him and he - he toppled over."

"You saved Reid's life, sweetheart," Derek murmured. "You stopped him from dying." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple. "I'm proud of you, Baby Girl."

"Because I almost killed someone?"

"No. Because you saved someone's life who you love." He tilted her chin up to look at him directly in the eye.

Her own eyes were shimmering with unshed tears that threatened to break their levee at any moment. Devastation was shining in her gaze, and her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as she listened for him to speak. A single tear broke out and slid down her cheek in a steady stream. Swallowing hard, she whispered, "I'm scared, Derek. I'm scared of what I did and what it means about me. I don't want this to be the demon I carry around for the rest of my life."

"You're my Baby Girl. You'll always going to be my Baby Girl," he insisted, kissing her again.

Sniffling, she nodded against his chest and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to eliminate all the tears she had pent up inside.

Derek's heart clenched in his chest and he cursed himself again. He needed to do whatever he could to help her, and at that moment all he thought he could could do was hold her. It was the only thing that came to mind.

XXXXX

After The Case

Penelope was sitting on Derek's couch, waiting for him to get home; he was staying at the BAU to finish up some last few pages of a report. Her head was pounding like a bass drum and all she wanted was to curl up in bed with Derek's arms wrapped around her protectively.

And when the right moment came, she had some news to deliver for him.

Her actions at the hospital still scared the hell out of her. She never thought she would fire a gun, but she did. And she had the ringing in her ears to prove it.

She folded her hands over her belly and looked down, a small smile spreading across her face despite the shiver of fear she felt race up her spine. She didn't know how to feel about what she did. Everything about guns made her nervous, but all that went out the window when she saw the man raise his gun towards Reid. Without hesitation, she grabbed the gun and fired, and while his kind words made her feel better right after the blast had gone off, she wasn't completely convinced she would be okay.

Thank God for Derek and his supportive strength.

The sound of the door opening drew her attention. She knew instinctively it was Derek without even having to look up. He didn't call out to her. She heard him rummaging around in the kitchen, his keys jingling as he set them down in their proper place. Briefly, she heard the sink run.

"Baby?"

His voice was in the room now, and she finally looked up from her staring point at the coffee table. As he leaned down to peck her lips, she gave him a weak smile. "Hey, you," she murmured.

He went around to sit on the couch beside her. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed the top of her head. "How're you feeling?" He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She responded by kissing him softly, nuzzling against his neck and staying tucked in the crook of his arm. Warm security descended over her, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding tightly like a life raft. "Whoa, girl," he laughed. "You're squeezing me awfully tight. What's going on?"

"I shot someone." Her voice was soft as a child's footfalls. "And I have a raging headache."

"You saved Reid's life," he returned. "And I have Tylenol in the medicine cabinet for that headache."

Frowning, she looked up at him and shook her head. "I don't do guns, though, Derek!" she protested, ignoring his comment about pain medication; she didn't want to let him go just yet. "You know that. You remember when Battle came back after me and you gave me a gun in case he made it back here? I was scared to death. But this time it was real. I actually fired the damn thing!"

"Baby, I know you're scared, but you did it to save someone you love," he explained. His expression turned downcast then. "And if this is anyone's fault, it's mine. You wouldn't have needed to pick it up if I had —"

Clamping a hand over his mouth, she shook her head with vigor. "No! Don't even go there! You know this is in no way your fault." She arched a brow at him and scrutinized him. "I'm serious. Don't." It was easy to tell he was wrestling with the guilt, but thankfully he merely pursed his lips. He sighed. Reluctance was written all over his face, but he didn't say a word more about feeling guilty.

"There's something else going on here, though," he observed, suppressing the urge to take responsibility once more. He tweaked her nose. "You're not just scared. You look like you have something you're dying to tell me."

A flaming blush broke out over her cheeks. Embarrassed, she bit her lip and nodded. "Uh, yeah…" She'd been hiding it for the past few days, and when the case got out of control, the opportunity to tell him slipped by in order to make room for worrying about the team. Now that she'd shot someone, she needed something to take her mind off of it, at least for now. This news seemed like the perfect distraction. "I've sort of known about it for the past, oh, four or five days now."

Both his brows shot upwards. "Oh?" he mused.

Instead of speaking, Penelope merely nodded and released Derek's waist so she could take both his hands in hers. Gently, she placed them on her belly. Her eyes drifted up to his. His jaw was dropped, agape with shock, and his eyebrows had risen even farther up on his forehead. The sight was amusing and allowed her to crack a giggle.

"For real?" Derek's back went erect and he cupped her cheeks in his hands. "Penelope, are you serious?"

Tilting her face so she could kiss his palm, she nodded. "Dead serious," she informed him. She raised her right hand. "Scout's honor." Within two seconds, he had jumped to his feet and was pulling her into his arms and off her feet. She gave a small yelp as he spun her around. When he stopped, his lips descended hungrily upon hers.

That moment, that touching of their lips, made Penelope's fears and doubts about firing the gun disappear. They evaporated into thin air, allowing her to relax into the sheer pleasure of the embrace. She moaned against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him so close that it seemed their bodies might meld together into one. He broke the kiss and rested their foreheads together. She inhaled his musky, uniquely-Derek scent and allowed a few tears to make the gentle slide down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, Baby Girl," Derek murmured. "This is supposed to be happy stuff."

She sniffled. "I'm not crying because I'm sad, Handsome," she whispered. "Happy tears, I promise."

"Good," he said, kissing her again. "Because no matter what, I will always be proud of you." Placing his hands on her belly again, he added, "And so will Junior."

And just like when Reid said she'd saved his life, Penelope felt worlds better.

XXXXX

_Monday Morning_

Derek and Penelope walked hand-in-hand out of the elevator when they reached the BAU on Monday morning. After their weekend off, they decided it was time for the team to know "officially" about their relationship. According to Reid they all knew about it, but this time it would come from their mouthed and not the others' profiling skills.

"You ready for this?" Penelope murmured, squeezing Derek's hand as they stood in front of the door to the bullpen.

He merely smiled and leaned down to give her a peck on the lips. "More than ready."

"Good," she giggled as he opened the door for her.

They entered the eerily quiet bullpen. JJ and Rossi were already at their desks, busying themselves with something, and Blake was nowhere to be found yet; Reid wasn't returning until his doctors gave the okay.

As if it were the most normal thing in the world, Penelope and Derek stopped in front of JJ and Rossi, neither one of them saying a word. Their friends looked up at them. At first neither of them seemed to have a reaction. However, smiles slowly started to cover their faces.

"I have one word for this," Rossi stated bluntly. "Finally."

"Yeah, no shit," JJ huffed.

Derek grinned and snaked his un-bandaged arm around Penelope's hips. She wrapped her arms around his waist in turn. Neither of them spoke; they just let their grins shine.

Penelope perked up seconds later and released Derek so she could clap her hands together in excitement. "Oh! And there's something el -"

"Spence?" JJ interrupted all the sudden. Rossi's brow furrowed.

Both Derek and Penelope whirled around to face the doors again. Sure enough, their Boy Genius, bandaged neck and all, was striding towards them.

Immediately Penelope shot into mother-hen mode.

"Reid! What the hell are you doing here?" she exclaimed. "You're supposed to have at minimum two weeks off!"

He grimaced and fidgeted with the straps on his messenger bag. "Don't worry, Garcia," he began to assure her. "I'm not here for work." His expression grew sad, his eyes devastated. "It's..."

Rossi leaned forward. "...Alex?" he finished for Reid. Somehow he could already tell exactly why Reid was there.

Reid swallowed hard and looked to his bag. He pulled a small leather object out and set it down gingerly on JJ's desk.

_Blake's credentials._

Penelope and Derek exchanged worries glances. Looking back at Reid, Penelope croaked, "Is…so…she's _gone_?" All at once, tears started to well up in her eyes again, and her emotions began to spin out of control. What had happened that caused Alex to leave?

Reid paused. He was obviously holding something back. Sighing, he relented. "It's….it's a long story." He motioned for them to follow him. "We should go to the round table room to talk about it."

Derek jerked his thumb towards Hotch's office. "Er, what about Hotch?" he asked. "He needs to know."

"He already does, doesn't he?" Rossi deduced.

Reid simply nodded and started up the stairs, Blake's credentials in hand. Rossi and JJ started after him, leaving Penelope and Derek in the bullpen still. Taking her hands, he kissed her forehead.

She touched his cheek. "We'll tell them soon," she vowed.

"My guess is we're going to need some good news after what Reid is going to spill," Derek admitted, taking her hand and leading her up the stairs.

Penelope frowned. "What's going to happen to us? You know…the team?" she asked in a hushed voice.

He halted in front of the round table room door and inhaled deeply. He didn't have an answer for her. They weren't going anywhere with Alex it seemed. Looking around the bullpen, his eyes ended up resting on her shining brown gaze. Squeezing her hand, he murmured, "I don't know. All I'm sure of right now is you and I."

"And what if I'm not sure of myself?" She arched a brow at him, waiting expectantly for an answer. "What if I can't handle Blake's demons, or my own for that matter?"

Leaning towards her, he wrapped her in his strong embrace once again before whispering, "You've got me to make you sure again."


End file.
